Sensitivity of NIR Radiances Observed by OCO-2 with Respect to Radiative Transfer Properties of Aerosols

In terms of climate change, the largest uncertainty in global radiative forcing lies with the effects of aerosols. Data to reduce such uncertainty is best provided by satellites, due to their much broader coverage and extended operating times, compared to field campaigns and stationary land observations. However, while satellite retrievals of aerosol optical depths are somewhat common, retrievals of aerosol absorption coefficients are sparser. We will use the formation of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellites to obtain aerosol optical depths and absorption coefficients. We take the vertical distribution of aerosol absorption from the lidar on CALIPSO and find aerosol properties that can generate the oxygen A band spectrum observed by OCO-2. We present here preliminary demonstrations of the sensitivity and information content of the observed oxygen A band with respect to our retrieval parameters, to demonstrate the viability of retrieving absorbing aerosol properties. This work will lead to the implementation of an algorithm that can retrieve absorbing aerosol properties on a global scale using the synthesis of OCO-2 and CALIPSO observations.